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President Biden Kicks Off Reelection Bid With Philadelphia Rally; Texas Governor Abbott Goes To Site Of Deadly Tornado; Special Counsel Seeks Protective Order Of Documents; Within Two Weeks, Damaged Portion Of I-95 Will Reopen; Despite Some Calls For Rate Increases, Fed Takes A Break; Interview With University Of Michigan Economics And Public Policy Professor Justin Wolfers; How Americans Feels About Their Jobs; Increasing Numbers Of Americans Express Unhappiness At Work; Bill Nye On Saturn Moon Discovery; Interview With Science Educator Bill Nye. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired June 17, 2023 - 16:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[16:00:27]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

We begin the hour with President Biden just wrapping up the kickoff to his re-election campaign in Philadelphia. His first major political rally since he announced back in April that he was running for a second term. And he did it surrounded by union workers while touting his pro-labor policies and saying he's proud to be labeled the most pro-union president in history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm more -- excuse me for being a little emotional. I'm more honored by your endorsement than you can imagine. Coming this early, it's going to make a gigantic difference in this campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now from Philadelphia.

Priscilla, the location of this rally, the makeup of the crowd, very significant to the president's re-election campaign. Isn't that right?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim. President Biden really highlighting the intersection of his political ties and personal ties by having this union rally here in Philadelphia. This was an event put on by the labor movement and one in which they were celebrating the endorsement by the AFL-CIO along with 17 pro-labor groups.

Now this was important, and you heard it there from President Biden because it was the earliest that they have endorsed a presidential candidate. And so it was a celebration of that, and there was enthusiasm in the crowd of about 2,000 union members as President Biden tries to rev up his campaign. And what became very clear over the course of his remarks and all

those that came before him from different unions was the importance of the support of this movement, of these groups, as he looks toward 2024. And he took a moment in his remarks to acknowledge that. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: If this room didn't show up for work tomorrow, on Monday, the whole country would come to a grinding halt. So tell me, tell me who matters more in America?

Folks, I am looking forward to this campaign, I want you to know why. Because you've got a story to tell. We've got a story to tell. We've got a record to run on. And most importantly, we're not only changing this country, but transforming it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now when I talked to folks about why this endorsement came early, what I heard is that essentially what President Biden campaigned on, they see the follow-through and some of that -- and some of those issues are what President Biden ticked through today, be it low unemployment rate, adding jobs, investments in clean energy, and that essentially provided enough momentum for these groups to come together and provide this endorsement that President Biden was very happy about today during the rally -- Jim.

ACOSTA: And Priscilla, are we going to start to see more of these campaign events starring the president? What do you think?

ALVAREZ: They really start in earnest later this year and going into 2024. But it is about the money and the fundraising, and on that front we're certainly going to see President Biden travel more often for these fundraisers. We've already seen it with the first lady, and we'll also start to see it with Vice President Harris. So while these events will continue, we'll see more of it in a ramp-up event later this year. But of course it always comes down to the money -- Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. No question about that. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you very much.

Spectrum News political anchor and CNN political commentator Errol Louis joins me now.

Errol, good to see you. Great to have you on. Thanks for doing this. How critical are these union endorsements for President Biden? I mean it seems like that's really one of the pillars of his campaign, his re-election campaign. It's always been a big part of his political backing.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That is right. Good afternoon, Jim. This is absolutely critical. This is not optional. If we go back to 2016, Hillary Clinton had a margin in union households of only eight points higher than Donald Trump and she lost Pennsylvania and she lost Michigan and she lost Wisconsin and industrial heartland. By contrast, Joe Biden won back all three of those states in 2020 by almost double the margin, 17 points. So getting this done, getting this tucked away, getting this sort of baked in is really essential to his campaign, and they're making that clear right up front, Jim.

ACOSTA: And Errol, you know, the president is just now kicking off this re-election campaign in earnest with his big rally today.

[16:05:02]

He's starting to staff up his campaign with some notable names. We saw in the last several days TJ Ducklo is coming back to be a senior communications person for the president's re-election campaign. What do you think, though? Is this too soft of a launch for the president's re-election campaign? It almost feels like, you know, up until this point there wasn't much of a re-election campaign going on. What do you think?

LOUIS: Well, look, there are soft launches and then there's sort of a stealth launch. And I think this falls more in that category. They're trying to get a lot of votes banked, get a lot of machinery up and moving, get the party machinery at the local level all in line with organizations like these unions. I mean, the unions that were represented today say they have 18 million members. That's a lot of households and that's a lot of private communication that you and I will never see.

You know, necessarily see a lot of television ads when unions are communicating with their own members. And so this is a way I think to kind of really establish a fundamental base, put some boots on the ground. The AFL-CIO has never done an endorsement this early. And this really just kind of reflects the nature of the modern Democratic Party.

It's not that much I think particular to Biden, Jim, because the Democratic Party at its base is really a coalition of social movements. So President Biden did something similar just a few days ago with environmental groups. He's trying to mobilize them.

ACOSTA: Right.

LOUIS: Get them on point, and get their talking points together, and their mobilization started. So I think we're going to see a lot more of that over the next 17 months.

ACOSTA: And it really could come down to Pennsylvania. The whole thing could come down to Pennsylvania.

And Errol, let me ask you this. You know, Biden touted his economic record, his policies today. There's been some pretty good economic news in recent weeks, but Americans are still frustrated with inflation according to some of these latest polls. Might this race come down to the economy, that old adage from James Carville, it's the economy, stupid? Just that old adage still lives on.

LOUIS: Well, it's always the economy. And the reality is, you know, as much as the president says inflation has come down every month over the last nine months, and that is true, and inflation is continuing to come down, and that is true and you can see it at the pump and that is true.

But until people really feel it and attribute it to the administration, rather than blind luck, and of course assuming that there is no recession and that things don't tip over into a recession, I think the very low unemployment rate is going to be something that Joe Biden really pushes. He said in his speech, he referred to Bidenomics, you know, sort of coining a phrase, and I'm sure they hope it will catch on, that things are actually pretty good.

You're talking about unemployment under 4 percent and you're talking about falling prices not rising, as the economy is shifting to more work from home agreements, more and more people sort of figuring out a work life balance that suits them better.

ACOSTA: Yes.

LOUIS: There's a lot to be proud of and I think that's what we're going to hear from this administration.

ACOSTA: And let me just get you quickly on, you know, Trump's federal indictment. President Biden and the White House, they've been staying pretty silent on those felony charges. The first lady, though, Jill Biden, she has been speaking out very strongly, warning against Trump's, quote, "corruption and chaos." Why do you think she's injecting herself into this, taking on Trump directly instead of the president?

LOUIS: Well, look, it's very hard to tell the candidate's wife, especially if that candidate is the most powerful man in the world, to tell him to tell his wife to get back on point. But, you know, the established strategy of say absolutely nothing and letting Donald Trump basically self-destruct and talk about issues that every poll shows even the Republican base does not want to hear about.

They don't want to hear the 2020 race relitigated. They don't want to hear about his legal problems, and yet that's become the center piece of every speech that he gives, you just kind of let the guy go. You know, if you've got some special insight with Jill Biden, maybe you can try and tell her what to say. But I don't know she's listening to pollsters, pundits or really anybody else.

ACOSTA: That's right. And it doesn't sound like they mind the strategy too much to have her going out there from time to time and saying this, defend her family. While the president, as you're saying, I mean, why jump into this if of Donald Trump is taking care of this on his own and causing these daily distractions for himself? You don't need the president to weigh in on that. You're right about that.

All right. Errol louis, great to talk to you. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

LOUIS: OK. So long, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Thank you. And the cleanup continues in Perryton, Texas. On Thursday an EF-3

tornado ripped through the town with winds of 140 miles an hour. At least three people including a child were killed. Dozens more were injured. Earlier Texas Governor Greg Abbott came to see the devastation for himself.

[16:10:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: I have seen more tornadoes than I can count. I have never seen the level of decimation to a town as I have seen today. What the people in this area have gone through over the past couple days is nothing short of horrific.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And CNN's Isabel Rosales was in the room and asked whether the outdoor warning system, the siren warning system, failed in Perryton, this is what she learned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LANDIS, PERRYTON, TEXAS, CITY MAYOR: We were under a watch at the moment that they went to a warning. Our people, when they went to activate, we lost power throughout town.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So it failed? The siren system failed?

LANDIS: With loss of electricity at the moment, it did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: CNN's Isabel Rosales joins us now from Perryton.

Isabel, did you get any straight answers there? What are they telling you about the notification about this tornado heading that way?

ROSALES: Yes, Jim. This tracks with what I'm hearing from folks here in town, who told me that they were caught unaware. That they never -- not one of them heard a siren and of course we heard there from the city manager that that's because the moment that it turned from a watch to a warning and they went to flip off the siren system, they lost electricity, and therefore the siren system failed in that moment.

The folks that I spoke with out here who did know that they were in danger it's because that they had weather apps on their phone and they got the notifications that way.

Jim, let me bring you to what's going on here on the ground in Perryton and that is really cleanup mode. We can see heavy machinery really moving on to flattening properties, homes, businesses that are beyond repair. They're going to need to remove all of this in order to rebuild. We know that this tornado was on the ground here for 11 minutes and going across the length of over six miles.

I do also want to let you know about new information that we got from -- that press conference as we give you higher vantage point now, a bird's eye view of the damage here in the downtown area. What used to be the bustling heart of Perryton. And that new information is that Governor Abbott signed -- officially signed that declaration notice, adding five counties that have been impacted by this tornado.

We're also hearing that the general hospital here, the area hospital treated 160 people with tornado-related injuries and a hospital that only had 25 beds. So they were working around the clock here to give assistance to people who needed help.

I also spoke with -- here somebody who rode out the storm in their trailer, praying to God that his family would be spared. His home was a total loss. But there were a few items that received zero damage. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ORLANDO MENDOZA, SURVIVED TORNADO IN MOBILE HOME: She was in the alley, or not in the alley, in the laundry and it ended up over here. But it didn't break. And we have this one over here, too.

ROSALES: Neither broke.

MENDOZA: Neither of them broke, and this one.

ROSALES: What do you think that says?

MENDOZA: I mean, just faith in God and that God protected us that day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And Jim, it's not just the risk of more severe weather potentially impacting this area that has people concerned but also this sweltering heat from all of this sunshine right now. Temperatures in Texas 10 to 15 degrees above what's normal -- Jim.

ACOSTA: My goodness. All right. Well, stay cool out there, Isabel. Isabel Rosales in Texas for us at the scene in Perryton, thank you very much.

As former President Donald Trump and his attorney start to plan their defense the Justice Department wants them to keep certain things secret. We'll explain. Plus President Biden flying over the collapsed stretch of I-95 in Philadelphia as he learns traffic could be moving again on the vital artery in just two weeks. That's right, two weeks.

And later a shocking new discovery. The building blocks of life could be as close to earth as one of Saturn's moons. We'll talk about that as well. That's coming up in just a little bit.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:13:26]

ACOSTA: New developments in the federal indictment of former President Donald Trump. Special Counsel Jack Smith is now asking the judge overseeing the case to bar Trump and his defense team from publicly disclosing some of the materials shared in the criminal case. Smith's team argued sharing these documents with the public could compromise ongoing investigations and identify uncharged individuals.

Joining us now is former prosecutor Renato Mariotti.

Renato, great to see you. You know, this is an unprecedented case among other things you could say about it. But what do you make of this request for a protective order, and what does it signal in terms of whether there may be other potential charges looming? Is that possible in this case? Why do think that the special counsel's team is asking this?

RENATO MARIOTTI, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes, I think it is very interesting, Jim. There ordinarily is a protective order focused on the classified material in the case. It's important for viewers to understand this is separate from that. And really what the prosecutors are looking to protect is potential -- for example, FBI reports that might mention other individuals, other potential charges.

I think it could potentially relate to other charges in this connection with this. For example, there might be others involved in the obstruction scheme, whether it's employees at Mar-a-Lago or attorneys or others. But then of course there's also the January 6th investigation. It's possible that some of the materials that are being produced, for example, FBI reports of discussion of what, you know, information was learned from a witness about this case as well as in that other investigation.

[16:20:02]

So we don't know for sure, but it's definitely a sign that there's more to come and that the special counsel knows more than they are letting on right now.

ACOSTA: And for the folks at home who are kind of wondering what the process is like, you know, why this is at issue, why would the special counsel need to hand over documents to the Trump team?

MARIOTTI: Well, it's part of the process in this country. You know, one thing the constitutional protection we have, Jim, is for a defendant to receive due process under the law. They will receive the discovery that -- you know, from the government so that they're able to see the potential exhibits in the case so that they're able to get the information that's in the government's possession. That's necessary for them to mount a defense in the case.

And it's part of the process that we have to ensure that someone is treated fairly. And so just like any other defendant in a case Donald Trump and his attorneys are receiving discovery of the information the government has, prior statements of witnesses, for example, if a person is going to testify against the former president. The defense is entitled to any statements that person has made to the government. Anything that could potentially be used at the trial.

So that's a lot of information going to the defense. And the government is understandably concerned that some of that information just might get posted to Truth Social or start getting distributed to news outlets. And so, you know, for that reason, they have to be careful. And I should note that protective orders have been in a lot of cases because the government has to be concerned about people understanding, you know, what they are working on, what other investigations around the corner, and potentially learning about witnesses who are cooperating in multiple cases.

ACOSTA: Yes. The security of these documents is what this case is all about so I guess it goes without saying.

And Renato, the House Republican judiciary chairman Jim Jordan, he's continued to press Justice Department officials for details on the Trump probe. Yesterday the Department of Justice said it will not give any information to Jim Jordan because it could compromise the special counsel's investigation.

What more can or should the Justice Department do? I mean, I guess there's not much you can do to satisfy some of the folks on the Republican side in the House and how they have been going after this. But is there anything more the DOJ can do?

MARIOTTI: I don't think so, Jim. In fact I think that what Congressman Jordan is doing is specifically he knows that this is going to be the result and I think that's exactly what he wants, Jordan's base perhaps, his supporters, to say that the Justice Department is still wrong in him. But in fact if any member of Congress tried to get information regarding any ongoing criminal investigation, they'd get the same answer.

For one thing, the grand jury investigations in our country are secret. They're conducted in secret and by law sharing that information actually can subject you to criminal penalties. So that's one issue. Second of all, in the midst of an ongoing prosecution like this one, transmitting information to the public or the elected representatives could potentially prejudice the defense.

For example, I understand that in this case that might not happen, but you don't know what the impact could be on the trial since typically just as a matter of policy you wouldn't distribute that material. And also just as we talked about a moment ago in terms of a protective order, similarly in the midst of an ongoing investigation, the Justice Department has to be concerned about compromising their witnesses or potentially, you know, causing somebody who's engaged in wrongdoing to destroy evidence.

ACOSTA: Yes. And just very quickly, just last thing. This has been on my mind all week. Should the public have any expectation that this trial will conclude before the primaries and caucuses get started in January or is that unlikely in your view? MARIOTTI: You know, I've thought long and hard about that, Jim. I

wrote a column in "Politico" about this subject. I feel pretty strongly that this will not take place before the election, for a lot of reasons. One thing just really think of the calendar. There's actually very limited time in which this could take place. Right? You know, even though the election is in November, it's not like you're going to have the trial on October or September, you know, of essentially making it --

ACOSTA: So it might not even get started before the primaries and the caucuses? I mean, people should just get that out of their mind altogether.

MARIOTTI: Yes. Really, you're not going to want to do it in the middle of the (INAUDIBLE) either, right? So there's just very limited time for this. He also has another trial in Manhattan and, you know, there's also the fact that there's plenty of motions that are going to get filed here and in a case like this one there's actually the right for interlocutor appeal so they can call on appeal immediately. I just think unless that Trump is insistent on a speedy trial before the election it won't happen.

ACOSTA: All right, Renato. Great to see you. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

MARIOTTI: Thank you.

ACOSTA: All. All those concerns about interest rate hikes, well, they're on pause at least for the moment.

[16:25:01]

New inflation data looks pretty positive. Were those predicting an imminent economic crisis wrong? We'll dig into the state of the economy next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Pennsylvania's governor says the damaged section of I-95 in Philadelphia will be reopened much sooner than expected in two weeks or less.

Here you're looking at a 24/7 live feed of around-the-clock construction efforts. This afternoon, President Biden took an aerial tour of the damaged highway alongside the governor and later he spoke about how critical these quick repairs are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I know how important this stretch of highway not just for Phillies. For the entire northeast corridor and to my home state. Over 150,000 vehicles traveling on it every day, including 14,000 -- 14,000 trucks, it's critical.

[16:30:02]

It's critical to our economy and it's critical to our quality of life. We're going to continue to do everything we can do within our power to get this back open as quickly and easily as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: CNN's Polo Sandoval joins us now. Polo, this seems like a pretty quick timeline.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I remember being in Atlanta and covering the repairs of a section of I-85, it had taken there about 43, 44 days to make that repair. So, it seems like the repair on this I-95 section seems to be moving right along, according to what officials laid earlier out today.

Governor Josh Shapiro speaking alongside President Biden at a Biden campaign event earlier today saying that he expects that that portion of I-95 will reopen in the next two weeks, again, that's coming from the governor. And he also praised the efforts of union workers. Some of who were actually present at that Biden campaign event as they offered the update on the repair efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): There's something special happening in our community. People coming together. Now, don't get me wrong. I know that motorists are hurting, business owners are hurting, but right now this community is coming together and lifting up those workers in making sure that they know we are supporting them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: You know, it's just last weekend that that tanker truck accident led to this incredible level of damage here. And the demolition portion of the project, that was actually announced on Thursday, that they wrapped up with that portion, so now they're moving forward with the repairs. But again, 160,000 vehicles that actually carried on that particular interstate a day through Philadelphia. So, it's certainly acting with a sense of urgency to try to get that back open, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes, and with all the summer travelers out there, they need that to open right away. We'll see what happens in two weeks.

SANDOVAL: Yes.

ACOSTA: Polo Sandoval, thank you very much.

This weekend, for the first time in 15 months, the Fed skipped hiking interest rates after signs that inflation is cooling down. Markets liked that news a lot at first but then turned volatile upon hearing the Fed could hike interest rates a couple more times before the end of the year. Stocks still ended though with gains through the weekend.

Justin Wolfers joins us now to talk about this. He's a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan. Justin, what did you think of that, of the Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, hitting the pause button on these rate hikes, and the kind of mixed message that a lot of folks got out there and that he indicated well that it might just be a temporary pause?

JUSTIN WOLFERS, ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: Yes. It was an interesting Fed meeting. And it's -- it -- the two was, to summarize, it was a hawkish pause. Let's take those two words in turn. The pause as the Fed decided not to raise interest rates this month, so that's a departure from its recent trend of jacking up rates for every meeting for, I think, 10 meetings in a row.

But it was hawkish because what we heard was that the committee anticipates raising rates another two times this year. So, they've paused for now, but they said, brace yourself, there's a few more rate rises coming. And that matters because those expectations of what determine the, sort of, longer running interest rates that go into your mortgage rate or into a business loan. And so, we actually saw longer-term interest rates rise which will, in fact, slow the economy a little.

ACOSTA: Yes, the treasury secretary -- Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers told Bloomberg news, he was confused by the pause while the Fed promises futures hikes. He said, it felt more like an internal political decision than an economic decision. What did you think of that? Did -- do you agree with that assessment?

WOLFERS: Sometimes I agree with Larry. And this time, I think he's got it mostly right. Let me defend the Fed's position which is, it's just a few weeks ago that we were all worried about Silicon Valley Bank causing a broader financial crisis.

ACOSTA: Right.

WOLFERS: That crisis never emerged. But what we don't know is how much this led a lot of other smaller regional banks to pull back on lending. If that happened, then it's -- as if we got a Fed rate rise without the Fed doing anything. So, this was just a take a breath, have the pause, and wait and see as we see, really, how the economy responds to that.

ACOSTA: And the job market just seems to be -- just moving along, just humming along. And a lot of industries are still scrambling to find workers, especially in the service sector, food service, retail. Is the U.S. just in this period of flux right now reconfiguring itself after COVID?

WOLFERS: Jim, isn't it great? We have unemployment down near a 50-year low. We're continuing to create jobs at an absolutely astounding rate, but every time I hear an employer complain about how hard it is to find workers, a big part of me rejoices because that means that there's a family sitting around a table somewhere who've been able to find work and other workers who were going to be able to take their bargaining power and get wage rises out of it.

And so, honestly, this is just absolutely fantastic news. [16:35:00]

And different way, thinking about this is it wasn't that many years ago, one or two years ago when we're all terribly worried about the damage that COVID would do to the economy.

ACOSTA: Right.

WOLFERS: And here we are today, and it's not every family, not every part of the country, but pretty much workers are telling us they're finding it really easy to find work.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, it wasn't that long ago when we were all just freaked out, you know, all around the world about what COVID was doing to the global economy and wondering where these jobs are going to come back, were these companies are going to come back. And it is pretty remarkable how things have rebounded. Justin Wolfers, thank you so much. Good to talk to you as always. Appreciate it.

WOLFERS: My pleasure, mate.

ACOSTA: All right. And while the data on unemployment looks good right now, the data on how people feel about their jobs, not so much. Harry Enten is here to run the numbers on that. Next, you're live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: More people say, they're unhappy with their jobs, and that dissatisfaction goes all the way to the top.

[16:40:00]

Check out what the Denver Nuggets star, Nikola Jokic, said this week after winning the NBA championship and being named the finals MVP.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKOLA JOKIC, NBA CHAMPION, FINALS MVP: Nobody likes his job, or maybe they do. They're lying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: CNN's Senior Date Reporter, Harry Enten, joins us to run the numbers. I mean, he's a brand-new NBA champion and he's no happy with his job? I mean, I guess nobody is these days.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATE REPORTER: You know -- I mean, I'd say, I'm happy with my job --

ACOSTA: Good.

ENTEN: -- and I'm happy to be with you, Jim, and that's just not -- not only just a plug, it's also the truth. But I will note, you know --

ACOSTA: Oh, sure.

ENTEN: -- he speaks for a lot of Americans -- yes. Exactly, right. He speaks for a lot of Americans, you know. If you essentially ask Americans, you know, are -- do you feel engaged in your job? Look at how many said they have low engagement with their jobs in the past year, 77 percent. Look at lots of daily stress, 44 percent of workers worldwide said they have lots of daily stress. And I will note that that is a record high. So, a lot of stress and a lot of low engagement, I will say, the Denver Nuggets star is not alone.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, a lot of people can relate with that -- with those numbers. And have workers been doing anything about this unhappiness?

ENTEN: Oh, you bet you they have been doing. Unlike me, a lot of them have been saying, adios amigos, goodbye, sayonara to their jobs. Look at this. Record numbers of Americans have been quitting their jobs. From January to April of last year, 18 million quit their jobs. From January to April of this year, over 15 million quit their jobs. And I will note, that is significantly higher than the long- term average, the January to April long-term average from 2001 to 2020 when it was just 11 million. So, not surprisingly when people feel stressed and they feel low engagement with their jobs, they say, screw this. I'm out of here. They have been quitting.

ACOSTA: And are workers finding -- what kind of environment are they finding when they go out to look for a new job? Is it -- it sounds like it's pretty good. We were just talking with an economist a few moments ago and there are jobs everywhere. Jobs are plenty.

ENTEN: Yes, that's exactly right. You know, it would be one thing if you quit your job and you were just sitting on your couch for six months, kind of like how I did when I left college and basically just hang out with my father all the time. But it turns out that there are a lot of jobs --

ACOSTA: But nothing has changed in that regard, Harry? Is it --

ENTEN: I do sit on my own couch, but it's my own couch. I'm not staying at my parents' couch. That's a big difference.

ACOSTA: I'm sorry.

ENTEN: I'm now an adult.

Either way, look, what they're finding out when they're going into the job market is that they're finding that, in fact, there are record job openings per month. Look at this, January to April of last year, there were 12 million jobs openings per month. January to April of this year, 10 million jobs per months, and that is double the long-term average which is just 5 million jobs per month. So, these workers are quitting and, you know what, they're quitting and finding out, hey, maybe I could get a better job. But for me, I like my job just the way that it is, just so we're clear, everybody.

ACOSTA: Yes, there's no reason that you're doing this segment this week. No reason at all. And Harry, it is Father's Day weekend. Tomorrow is Father's Day, how are Americans treating dad, any numbers on dad?

ENTEN: Yes, you know what, just keep it simple, folks. How about just buying them a gift -- a greeting card, right? 61 percent, that's the top thing we buy for our fathers. Clothing, 55 percent. I like clothing, you know, maybe I can use a new jacket. My girlfriend thinks I need a new suit, or just a meal or an outing. I love a good meal or an outing, right. Maybe a nice little chicken sandwich from Popeyes. I know some of your producers in Atlanta would love one.

ACOSTA: They certainly would. All of that sounds good. I typically find that dad ends up paying for those things. But that's OK. It's the thought that counts. All right. Harry Enten, great stuff as always, and good luck finding that suit. I think your suit looks just fine from here but it's just from the chest up, so who knows. Great stuff.

ENTEN: Yes, I'm wearing shorts.

ACOSTA: Of course, I figured as much. I didn't want to tell everybody but -- all right, Harry, we would expect nothing less. Have a good weekend. Thanks a lot. And be sure to check out Harry's podcast, "Margins of Error", you can find it on your favorite podcast app or at cnn.com/audio.

Coming up, a key chemical building block of life found on one of Saturn's moons. What does that mean for finding another habitable planet. We'll talk about that and much more with the Bill -- with Bill Nye the Science Guy, there he is right there, the man himself. We'll talk to him in just a few moments. We're live in the "CNN Newsroom."

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ACOSTA: For the first time, scientists have discovered evidence of phosphorus in an ocean not on Earth. A new study in the "Journal of Nature" says the life-sustaining element was found inside salty ice grains shot into space by one of Saturn's moons. Not only is phosphorus vital to all life on Earth, but its presence supports the idea that there could be an ocean capable of sustaining life beneath that moon's icy surface.

The co-author of the study says, "The next step is clear. We need to go back to see if habitable ocean is actually inhabited." And joining us now is a man who needs no introduction, Bill Nye the Science Guy. Bill, what do you make of all of this? The possibilities are, kind of, extraordinary here. What do you think?

BILL NYE, SCIENCE EDUCATOR: Well, so, if you have an ocean, a salty ocean for a few billion years, maybe there is something alive. And so, so far, using the first -- using the date collected by the Cassini Spacecraft, everybody was pretty sure there's water, hydrogen and oxygen. Sulfur.

[16:50:00] But finding phosphorus, atomic number of 15, is significant because -- you know, we say -- in magic, they say it's all done with mirrors. You know what we say in biochemistry? It's all done with molecules.

So, when it comes to us, our DNA is held up. The edge of our DNA is phosphorous. And so, phosphorous and sugar make the so-called backbone or the railings of the staircase of DNA. And then you've probably heard of ATP, adenosine triphosphate, that's the battery, that's the energizer of our cells. And so, having phosphorous is very important to us and all the other living things that we know of, which are all on Earth. But I'll tell you, sir, if we were to find evidence of life on another world, it would change this world.

ACOSTA: How so?

NYE: Everybody would feel differently about being a living thing.

ACOSTA: Yes, expand on that because I think you're absolutely right about that. I just -- I think the entire planet, our planet would just be mesmerized if there were some images or, you know, if we were to find some kind of sign of life on this moon.

NYE: Some Enceladusians of some sort.

ACOSTA: Yes.

NYE: You know, there's a layer of ice, a shell of ice and under that is this ocean. And it's kept liquid by the gravity of -- by the mutual gravity of Enceladus and Saturn, squeezing it and it keeps it warm enough to be liquid all these billions of years. And you cannot help but wonder these two questions, these two questions we all ask. Where did we come from? Where --

ACOSTA: Right.

NYE: -- how did life get started? Whose idea was this? I know people have -- are very sure of some things. But fundamentally, scientifically we don't know how life started. And then you wonder if it started here or could it start somewhere else. Are we alone?

And then the other deep question is we have DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid. Oh, by the way, phosphorous is what makes it acidic. It's very important to its function.

ACOSTA: Yes.

NYE: So, we have DNA. Does another form of life on another world have DNA? Does DNA always get involved? Is it always part of the equation? And then furthermore, did life start somewhere else and end up here because things fall toward the sun after their impacts out there?

ACOSTA: Right.

NYE: Are we descendants of Enceladusians? That's quite a hypothesis, but we investigated everybody for a tiny fraction of the federal budget. A tiny fraction of space agency budgets around the world go to this kind of investigation, and it leads to these extraordinary discoveries. Back to you.

ACOSTA: Well, and -- I mean, if this were to be, you know -- I mean, if we were to find some more evidence of this, we would have to go. And how would we go and further confirm what may be taking place there? Do we have -- do we even have --

NYE: So, if you're --

ACOSTA: -- I mean, we haven't even figured out how to get to Mars, you know, besides sending rovers and that sort of thing.

NYE: Well --

ACOSTA: How would we figure this out?

NYE: -- When you start getting out -- I guess, when you start getting out as far as Jupiter and Saturn, getting people out there becomes fantastically complicated.

ACOSTA: Right.

NYE: I'm not saying it's impossible, it just takes a huge investment. But 2027 we're planning to launch the Dragonfly mission to another one of Saturn's moon, Titan, which is equally intriguing. This phosphorus thing is just this week. But it just shows you also the tremendous value of these missions. Cassini flew 2017, and it launched 12 years before that, and these data are still being analyzed. They're still thinking deep thoughts about what the instruments can tell us about these other worlds.

And so, everybody, we're not jumping on a rocket to go to Saturn. But we are going to send another spacecraft there, and this is the extraordinary Dragonfly Octocopter. You know, fly around in a titanic atmosphere. It's going to be amazing.

ACOSTA: Yes.

NYE: And once again, I say all the time, it's just the investment is just very, very small. And if you are watching in the U.S., you're a U.S. citizen or what have you, NASA is the best brand the United States has. People everywhere respect NASA.

ACOSTA: Yes.

NYE: And furthermore, this one (ph) mission that engage just like Cassini, engages space agencies and scientists, engineers and taxpayers, voters around the world.

ACOSTA: Yes.

NYE: I thank you.

[16:55:00]

ACOSTA: Well, you're absolutely right, Bill. You've given us a lot to think about. We'll be dreaming about this moon tonight, perhaps, and wondering what lies out there.

NYE: Yes, phosphorous. Phosphorous.

ACOSTA: Science fiction quickly a science fact. Bill Nye the Science Guy, thanks so much. Great to talk to you. Appreciate it.

NYE: Absolutely. Thank you, sir, carry on.

ACOSTA: All right. Thank you. You as well.

In other news, a scary situation in Mexico, the mayor of the border town Tijuana in Mexico now forced to live on an army base after getting threats from gangs. Why she may be a target, next. You're live in "CNN Newsroom."

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